Limburger
🥚 VegetarianLimburger is a soft, rind-washed cheese that originated in the Herve area of Belgium. It is known for its strong smell, caused by the bacterium Brevibacterium linens, while its flavour ranges from mild to slightly spicy.
History
Production is documented in the Herve area, within the historical Duchy of Limburg, since the 15th century. The territory formed part of the Holy Roman Empire until the French Revolution. The cheese became known by the name of its country of origin, while the Limburger name came to cover similar styles made in other regions.
Its spread to the United States began in the 19th century. The F.X. Baumert cheese factory in Antwerp, New York, produced it in 1854, and a few years later several factories were making it. It was also made in Canada, where it became a German-Canadian cultural marker, at the Oak Grove Cheese Company in New Hamburg, Ontario. Today, the only American producer is the Chalet Cheese Cooperative in Monroe, Wisconsin.
Culture
It ripens for about three months in cellars in the Herve countryside, sometimes cut into chalky rock. As it ages, it moves from a firm, crumbly texture similar to feta to a creamy, spreadable paste. In Belgium it was once regarded as one of the most popular cheeses. In the Midwestern United States, especially Wisconsin and Ohio, the Limburger sandwich remains common, served on rye bread with raw onion and mustard, with strong black coffee or beer. Its notorious smell has also made it a running joke in Looney Tunes, Three Stooges and Abbott and Costello films, and in music and television.
Legend and fact
It is often said that the cheese comes from the German city of Limburg, and that monks there created the recipe by crushing the curds with bare feet. Both claims are doubtful: the sources place its origin in the Herve area of Belgium, and the monk story is a tradition rather than a documented fact. What is documented is its production since the 15th century.